Taste of Art and Life 2012 Recap

"Taste of Art and Life" is a fundraising event put on by the Arts Council of Greater Lansing every year.  This year was the third time that I have been a demo artist with a table layout, and I think, for me, it was the best year yet.  Click here for the really good Photos on Facebook.  This year was hosted by David and Nancy McKeague at their beautiful East Lansing home.  This particular house I drive by all of the time and have always been so in love with it.  It was truly awesome to get a full tour of their house and spend time hanging out in their back yard.

I had made sure to build up my jewelry stock before this event, but I brought one of my "sculptural" beadweaving pieces to work on while I was there.  This definitely grabbed the attention of guests wandering by and allowed me to open up conversation about the Individual Artist's Grant that I received this year and where my work is headed.  I was also very impressed at how informed many of the guests were this year.  A lot of them had said that they looked at my website before coming to the event and were planning on shopping.

I shared tent spaces with my colleague from Grove Gallery, Deb, and got to meet and talk with an artist who is new to me, Kirsten.  I learned from Kirsten that my artist-tent-emergency-kit is missing a few things that I will be adding to it: Bug spray (which I kept having to borrow, thank you!) and duct tape.

The artists that were in attendace for this event were:
Sue Preiss (plein air painting)
Juanita Baldwin (pastel drawing)
A. Kirsten Barton (watercolor painting)
Rebecca Case (egg tempera painting)
Deborah Cholewicki (woven wall sculpture)
Marti Liddle-Lamenti (fiber wearables)
Craig Mitchell Smith (glass sculpture)

I feel like I haven't seen Craig in way too long, so it was good to catch up with him, along with a few of the attendees that I know (Nancy, Brian, Daphne and Barb!)

Thanks again Leslie, Katie, Kate and Chad for all of your hard work on this event and dedication to our local Lansing art scene!  And of course to the McKeague's for hosting in their lovely home.

This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Arts Council of Greater Lansing.